Founded in 1889, Barnard College had the bold vision of creating a liberal arts college for women. Ever since, the College has pushed generations of Barnard women to think critically about what it means to be a woman, a scholar, and a leader. Barnard aims to empower high-achieving young women with the highest-quality liberal arts education, providing the unmatched advantages of a fully residential college in a long-standing partnership with a large research university, Columbia University.  

Students are encouraged to take advantage of interdisciplinary learning through exploring more than 50 fields of study in the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and arts. Some of the most popular majors at Barnard include: Biological & Life Sciences, Economics, English, History, Neuroscience, Political Science, and Psychology.

Barnard is a community of accessible teachers and dedicated students who embark collaboratively on a journey of intellectual risk-taking and discovery. The small, personal, and close-knit character of Barnard is augmented by Columbia’s resources, allowing students to benefit from both an all-women and a coeducational experience. Barnard’s unique and powerful partnership with Columbia University provides students the opportunity to cross-register for classes, participate in joint extracurricular activities, and more — in fact, Barnard is the only women’s college to offer NCAA Division I athletics through the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium.

As a women’s college, Barnard embraces its responsibility to address issues of gender in all of their complexity to support students and cultivate the personal fortitude that will assist them in navigating the challenges they will encounter throughout their lives. Barnard holds a legacy of educating young women from first-generation and economically diverse backgrounds — ranked #12 of 64 elite colleges in the social mobility of its students by the Equality of Opportunity Project and #20 of 171 colleges in the New York Times College Access Index. Located in the cosmopolitan environment of New York City, Barnard prepares its graduates to thrive in different cultural surroundings in an increasingly connected world. Barnard students graduate ready to lead lives that are professionally rewarding and personally fulfilling.